IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL can he die and not make gain (erdos phere)?.. But if i had let my mother's son die and lie unburied, for that i should have grieved. (461-8) In paraphrase, the breaker of the edict has indeed worked for"gain, "even for what is to her a real"treasure. " But this is"gain"of a sort and a desire for "profitin a sense which Creon has not considered in the first episode and whose value he does not realize until after Teiresias' final warn ing. When the catastrophe has brought that realization em- two dramatically ironic echoes of the monetary imagery whi e phatically home to Creon, there recur near the end of the pI turn back on his earlier mode of judging, or misjudging, human conduct. One appears in the mouth of the first Mes- senger(II68-7I); the other is expressed by the Chorus In the major developments of this pattern of monetary images, questions of insight, we see, are raised alongside questions of motivation and evaluation. As Antigone, and to a lesser degree Haimon and Teiresias, share these same terms which are characteristic of Creon,s judgment of human nature but apply them to denote motives and standards quite different from the venality which he is so prone to ascribe to others, the underlying clash within the surface parallelism helps to make both intense and deep-reaching the separation between their points of view. The words are the same but the very similarity makes for further misunderstanding instead of for understanding, because the views of human nature and its significant sources of action, which the terms embody, are different. In some measure this is a procedure and an implication common to all of the image sequences and to other concepts in the play--the recurrent split of the two protago nists over certain common words. In this pattern, as else- where, it dramatizes the difficulty of knowing motives and judging actions; for even as the characters use the same terms to each other we see them blind to each other's meani This close relation of the question of valuation with the question of sight(insight) is particularized for us by two This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 44: 24 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL can he die and not make gain (kerdos pherei) ? . . . But if I had let my mother's son die and lie unburied, for that I should have grieved. (461-8)4 In paraphrase, the breaker of the edict has indeed worked for "gain," even for what is to her a real "treasure." But this is "gain" of a sort and a desire for "profit" in a sense which Creon has not considered in the first episode and whose value he does not realize until after Teiresias' final warning. When the catastrophe has brought that realization emphatically home to Creon, there recur near the end of the play two dramatically ironic echoes of the monetary imagery which turn back on his earlier mode of judging, or misjudging, human conduct. One appears in the mouth of the first Messenger (1168-71); the other is expressed by the Chorus. (1326)6 In the major developments of this pattern of monetary images, questions of insight, we see, are raised alongside questions of motivation and evaluation. As Antigone, and to a lesser degree Haimon and Teiresias, share these same terms which are characteristic of Creon's judgment of human nature but apply them to denote motives and standards quite different from the venality which he is so prone to ascribe to others, the underlying clash within the surface parallelism helps to make both intense and deep-reaching the separation between their points of view. The words are the same but the very similarity makes for further misunderstanding instead of for understanding, because the views of human nature and its significant sources of action, which the terms embody, are different. In some measure this is a procedure and an implication common to all of the image sequences and to other concepts in the play—the recurrent split of the two protagonists over certain common words.6 In this pattern, as elsewhere, it dramatizes the difficulty of knowing motives and judging actions; for even as the characters use the same terms to each other we see them blind to each other's meaning. This close relation of the question of valuation with the question of sight (insight) is particularized for us by two This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:44:24 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL further monetary images. They are both images of false coin age, which at critical, matching points in the action demand that one must look below the surface of things to test their genuine value. In his opening speech on his right to govern and his principles of government, Creon offers us the first of these images in these words It is impossible to discover any man's nature, thought or judgment before he is shown tested and rubbed down (entries)by public duties and the laws. (I75-7) The expression involves an old maxim, attributed to Bias and others of the Seven Sages, that "Authority shows the man. But there is almost certainly a reference to the detection of spurious coinage by wear, the wear of repeated use and pos- sibly the rubbing of a touchstone. The numerous other mone- tary terms in the play should make us recognize these connota- tions, but in case they do not, we have the image given to us again in a more striking form It recurs in Teiresias'final warning to Creon and is in part a specific and ironic answer to Creon's charges of venality After having been goaded by Creon into voicing his most secret and dire forebodings, Teiresias foretells that CI reon w pay with one of his own offspring for having ed Antigone and mistreated Polyneices'corpse. The netl also have been wronged and their avengers lie in Creon. And then Teiresias says And in respect to these things, see if I speak as one just gilded over (katergyromenos); for the rub and test (tribe) of no great time will show the wails of men and women in your house. (IO77-9) For Creon the testing factor (whether like the touchstone or the use of many hands )has been the laws and their ad- ministrations, and the course of the action from this point on shows very clearly that his"mind, thought, and judgment in the proclamation and administration of his laws have been of inferior metal. For himself Teiresias claims the test of time and, by implication, of the will of the gods. These on This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 44: 24 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL further monetary images. They are both images of false coinage, which at critical, matching points in the action demand that one must look below the surface of things to test their genuine value. In his opening speech on his right to govern and his principles of government, Creon offers us the first of these images in these words: It is impossible to discover any man's nature, thought or judgment before he is shown tested and rubbed down (entribes) by public duties and the laws. (175-7) The expression involves an old maxim, attributed to Bias and others of the Seven Sages, that "Authority shows the man." But there is almost certainly a reference to the detection of spurious coinage by wear, the wear of repeated use and possibly the rubbing of a touchstone.7 The numerous other monetary terms in the play should make us recognize these connotations, but in case they do not, we have the image given to us again in a more striking form. It recurs in Teiresias' final warning to Creon and is in part a specific and ironic answer to Creon's charges of venality. After having been goaded by Creon into voicing his most secret and dire forebodings, Teiresias foretells that Creon will pay with one of his own offspring for having wronged Antigone and mistreated Polyneices' corpse. The nether gods also have been wronged and their avengers lie in wait for Cr eon. And then Teiresias says: And in respect to these things, see if I speak as one just gilded over (katergyromenos) ; for the rub and test (tribe) of no great time will show the wails of men and women in your house. (1077-9)8 For Creon the testing factor (whether like the touchstone or the use of many hands) has been the laws and their administrations, and the course of the action from this point on shows very clearly that his "mind, thought, and judgment" in the proclamation and administration of his laws have been of inferior metal. For himself Teiresias claims the test of time and, by implication, of the will of the gods. These on This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:44:24 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL the contrary in his case reveal that his words and the stand ards of conduct for which he speaks are indeed genuine. The two images appear at critical and matching positions within the play: Creon,s initial statement of his principles and Teiresias'final speech which condemns and causes a reap- raisal of those principles. And together these images of coinage help to show that Creon's manner of judgment is superficial, though specious, in its pragmatic rationality. Thus they help to create the realization that below the level of"real- istic"politics lie deeper moral values and moral forces which must be taken into account in the business of government. The military Se The nature and quality of civil control espoused by the various forces in the tragedy and the problem of its relation ships with individual insight and motive find partial ex pression in recurrent images drawn from military objects and procedures. Further, more basic aspects of the same are developed in the animal imagery to which we shall come next. The patterns are interworked so as to support and complement each other's implications. But within the tragedy the sequence of military images gives us, in its own right, a skillfully graded and subtly progressing insight into the kind of civic order that matches (or is likely to result from the kind of valuation which Creon applies to personal motives The initial development of the pattern is quiet and sug gestive. In the first three instances, which occur in the pro- logue, the concrete and emotional overtones of the expression are presented as latent indications which act indirectly to impress their implications on the later developments of the action. As we have observed, Antigone introduces military terminology in the very first speech of the play, when she queries her sister And now what is this new thing which they say the general has just had heralded to the city and all its people Do you know Have you heard? Or do you fail to see that the evils of your enemies are marching on your friends?(7-IO I9 This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 44: 24 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL the contrary in his case reveal that his words and the standards of conduct for which he speaks are indeed genuine. The two images appear at critical and matching positions within the play: Creon'3 initial statement of his principles and Teiresias' final speech which condemns and causes a reappraisal of those principles. And together these images of coinage help to show that Creon's manner of judgment is superficial, though specious, in its pragmatic rationality. Thus they help to create the realization that below the level of "realistic" politics lie deeper moral values and moral forces which must be taken into account in the business of government. The {Military Sequence The nature and quality of civil control espoused by the various forces in the tragedy and the problem of its relationships with individual insight and motive find partial expression in recurrent images drawn from military objects and procedures. Further, more basic aspects of the same issues are developed in the animal imagery to which we shall come next. The patterns are interworked so as to support and complement each other's implications. But within the tragedy the sequence of military images gives us, in its own right, a skillfully graded and subtly progressing insight into the kind of civic order that matches (or is likely to result from) the kind of valuation which Creon applies to personal motives. The initial development of the pattern is quiet and suggestive. In the first three instances, which occur in the prologue, the concrete and emotional overtones of the expression are presented as latent indications which act indirectly to impress their implications on the later developments of the action. As we have observed, Antigone introduces military terminology in the very first speech of the play, when she queries her sister: And now what is this new thing which they say the general has just had heralded to the city and all its people ? Do you know ? Have you heard ? Or do you fail to see that the evils of your enemies are marching on your friends? (7-10) This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:44:24 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL The blending of concrete and general, of traditional termi- nology and a specific feeling of antipathy on Antigone,s part in this expression have already been discussed. It is only neces sary to note that the reference to Creon's decision as an edict ed by herald helps to develop the presentation of hi as a military go nd so to add to antigon tion of his high-handedness. This is made apparent later in the scene, for when she is opposed by Ismene, Antigone turns the term against her sister Oh speak out. You will be much the more hateful if you keep silent and do not herald out to everyone these plans y emotional implication as well as by direct statement An tigon thus dissociates herself and places her sister in Creon's ranks. Ismene, on the other hand. in the same scene meets exactly these implications and tries to counter them when she But think on this that we are women not made to war (machoumena)against men.(6I-2) Whereas, that is, Antigone feels a military power and auto- ratic kind of authority raised against her and will contest it even with her bare hands(43), Ismene is more cautious and urges their feminine weakness as reason to avoid this san contest g In the larger context these unobtrusive images and their interplay prepare for the understanding of Creon's attitude and the presentation of his principles of control when those are exhibited more fully. His first uses of military termi nology are also unobtrusive, such ones as might easily mark a leader recently engaged in the defense of his city by arms In his first speech, for example, he compliments the Chorus of elders with the suggestion that their counsel has been a strong wall of defense about the family of Laius When he [Oedipus] perished, you still stood with firm- grounded counsel about their children. (168-9) This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 44: 24 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL The blending of concrete and general, of traditional terminology and a specific feeling of antipathy on Antigone's part in this expression have already been discussed. It is only necessary to note that the reference to Creon's decision as an edict announced by herald helps to develop the presentation of him as a military governor and so to add to Antigone's implication of his high-handedness. This is made apparent later in the scene, for when she is opposed by Ismene, Antigone turns the term against her sister: Oh speak out. You will be much the more hateful if you keep silent and do not herald out to everyone these plans of mine. (86-7) By emotional implication as well as by direct statement Antigone thus dissociates herself and places her sister in Creon's ranks. Ismene, on the other hand, in the same scene meets exactly these implications and tries to counter them when she argues: But think on this, that we are women, not made to war (machoumena) against men. (61-2) Whereas, that is, Antigone feels a military power and autocratic kind of authority raised against her and will contest it, even with her bare hands (43), Ismene is more cautious and urges their feminine weakness as reason to avoid this same contest.9 In the larger context these unobtrusive images and their interplay prepare for the understanding of Creon's attitude and the presentation of his principles of control when those are exhibited more fully. His first uses of military terminology are also unobtrusive, such ones as might easily mark a leader recently engaged in the defense of his city by arms. In his first speech, for example, he compliments the Chorus of elders with the suggestion that their counsel has been a strong wall of defense about the family of Laius: When he [Oedipus] perished, you still stood with firmgrounded counsel about their children. (168-9) This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:44:24 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL Later he bids the Chorus be skopoi(watchers, but usually military look-outs or spies)of his edict, and they, with per haps significant insight, take his meaning first to be actual guards posted at the corpse(2I And soon after this when the Guard enters but holds back his news behind a screen of anticipatory excuses, Creon catches him short with two images that are probably also of military origin Your aim shows skill, and you manage to fence the matter off from yourself all round. Apparently you have ews of a strange sor But the key locus in the sequence of military images, for which these others prepare, is the Haimon scene. In the first part of this scene Creon delivers a lengthy speech, designed not only to turn his son against antigone but also to express his principles of domestic and civil order. A military basis for these precepts is sounded in Creon's opening sentence(in which, incidentally, Creon quite misses the equivocal nature of his son's preceding words Yes,just this, my son, should be your heart's disposition, to hold your post (opisthen hestanai) behind your father's will in all matters. (639-40)11 In itself this introductory image of a soldier posted behind his leader foretells in some measure, as Jebb points out, the tone in which Creon presently enforces the value of discipline But at the end of the speech the military suggestion is caught up and brought emphatically to the fore in two extended mages whomever the city may establish, this one must be obeyed in small things and just things and things of the opposite sort. And this man, I should venture, not only would rule well but would accept well being ruled n a storm of spears he would stand where posted (prostetagmenon) a worthy and honorable comrade in ranks (parastate). But anarchy is surpassed by no other evil. This destroys cities; this makes households desolate. This in battle brings shattered rout of spear This content downloaded from 128... 148 on Thu, 23 Mar 201709: 44: 24 UTC Allusesubjecttohttpaboutjstor.org/terms
IMAGERY OF EVALUATION AND CONTROL Later he bids the Chorus be skopoi (watchers, but usually military look-outs or spies) of his edict, and they, with perhaps significant insight, take his meaning first to be actual guards posted at the corpse (215-17). And soon after this, when the Guard enters but holds back his news behind a screen of anticipatory excuses, Creon catches him short with two images that are probably also of military origin : Your aim shows skill, and you manage to jence the matter off from yourself all round. Apparently you have news of a strange sort. (241-2)10 But the key locus in the sequence of military images, for which these others prepare, is the Haimon scene. In the first part of this scene Creon delivers a lengthy speech, designed not only to turn his son against Antigone but also to express his principles of domestic and civil order. A military basis for these precepts is sounded in Creon's opening sentence (in which, incidentally, Creon quite misses the equivocal nature of his son's preceding words) : Yes, just this, my son, should be your heart's disposition, to hold your post (opisthen hestanai) behind your father's will in all matters. (639-40)11 In itself this introductory image of a soldier posted behind his leader foretells in some measure, as Jebb points out, the tone in which Creon presently enforces the value of discipline. But at the end of the speech the military suggestion is caught up and brought emphatically to the fore in two extended images: . . . whomever the city may establish, this one must be obeyed in small things and just things and things of the opposite sort. And this man,12 I should venture, not only would rule well but would accept well being ruled. In a storm of spears he would stand where posted (prostetagmenon) a worthy and honorable comrade in ranks (parastaten) . 18 But anarchy is surpassed by no other evil. This destroys cities; this makes households desolate. This in battle brings shattered rout of spear; This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:44:24 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms